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Petplan US - Ridiculous premium increase

Wow, I just got my renewal notice from PetPlan USA, and they are saying my 2013 premium is going up by a WHOPPING 27% this year. Annual premium increments I can understand, especially in the face of inflation, but since I joined PetPlan in 2011 the 2 increments since then would mean they've increased my premium 51% in just 2 years.

The only claim we've made so far was for a $700 reimbursement in late 2011 for a abscess removal procedure we had to do on Skippy.

Premiums over the years2013: $527 (have not paid/renewed yet)2012: $4132011: $350 (estimated, from what I can remember)

This is the 'plan' we currently have:"Bronze" coverage

$8000 vet fees

$200 deductible

100% reimbursement

I'm about to email PetPlan to get an explanation, but just wanted to post here and see if this is the norm for you guys too, or if they are way out of line.

Well, insurance is insurance and the companies can basically do whatever they want (in the US anyway). It makes me angry as well. It least with Pet Plan the insurance works like it should I mean when you sign up "they say" it covers XYZ and it actually does.

Not like most human insurance health insurance companies where you pay your deductible you pay your co-pay then STILL end up with a bill WHAT????!!!!!!

I have not renewed yet , due to in April but I paid $375 ( ish-or what I remember) for April 2012-April 2013 I do remember getting a pay in full discount tho.
I don't think your out of like, but maybe you can play with the numbers a bit....can you raise the deductible? change the reimbursement? It never hurts to ask a company "hey can you do better than this?"

Please let us know how it goes.

Melissa
"If you don't own a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life."
-Roger Caras

Chuck, Cooper and Nina
Shelter dogs aren't broken. They've simply experienced more life than other dogs. If they were human, we would call them wise. They would be the ones with tales to tell and stories to write. Do not pity a shelter dog. Adopt one.

I don't have the numbers handy, but the premium for Sophie's "Silver" policy with Pet Plan had a similar sharp increase in September 2012, also. It was noticeable.

We get that lovely quarterly magazine printed on heavy stock paper with nice color photos, with articles that describe some of the most expensive claims they have paid out on dogs. Insurance is a form of socialized medicine in that *we* are paying for those claims. That's how it worked with the group health insurance plan where my husband worked. Husband and I didn't have outrageous health insurance claims, but there were some very, very ill people where he worked, each with claims in the hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, for a year or two. As a result, the premiums for all employees jumped 35% for the past few years and we went from a $5k to $8k deductible to keep those horrendous premiums as low (ha!) as they were. I imagine it is the same with pet insurance.

We haven't got any for Jenny yet, but some folks here have said that we should. We have been thinking about it seriously, too. We had best get started on our research. I'm wondering if the pet insurance companies are like the satellite companies. They just continue to raise the monthly payment and there's no inflation at all now. The health insurance companies do the same. They treat us like a bunch of lemmings and we continue to make that easy for them to do. Just sayin....

I have PurinaCare for Luke. His renews in April, and I just got the notice. It' s going up about a dollar a month, from $33 something to $34 something. I have preventative care with $1000 deductible and 80% reimbursement. He has been covered through them the entire time I have had him. I started his policy before I brought him home so that he would be covered immediately when I got him home. I've heard people tell of high increases through Petplan in other places too.

One year later, I just received our renewal letter for Skippy informing us that his premium for the next year will be $498.45, or about 29% more than last year. I understand increases have to happen with inflation and dog age, but 25-29% a year just seems excessive.